"He basically told me to keep getting better every day," Harris said, who had 20 points and five rebounds for the Cavs. "Coming from a player like him and his caliber it means a lot. Everything he said was right; keep playing every day and help my team get better.

"It's a good thing, but I'm just worried about the team right now -- how can we get better as a team."

That, indeed, is the question. Monday's loss was a club-record 21st straight, their 31st in 32 games, and a club-record 24th straight on the road. After dropping to a league-worst 8-40, what can the Cavs do?

"Keep fighting," coach Byron Scott said before the game. "That's all you can do. You're either going to fight or you're going to lay down. I don't think we've got guys who are going to lay down."

The Cavs fought back after Miami pulled out to a 19-point lead in the first half, thanks to some jaw-dropping plays by Dwyane Wade, who finished with 34 points, seven rebounds, five assists and three steals.

After closing to within 66-57 at halftime, the Cavs opened the third quarter on a 10-4 run to close to 70-67, forcing a Miami timeout. But in what has become an all-too-familiar refrain, getting back in the game took all the energy the short-handed visitors had. With all of its firepower, the Heat responded with a 9-0 run and the Cavs made just 2 of 16 shots the rest of the period.

Basically, when the Heat decided it wanted to win, it did.

Where, or where, is a win?

With their losing streak at 21 games after Monday’s loss, the Cavaliers are four defeats away from setting an NBA record. Their next five games:

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"We played pretty good in the third quarter," Scott said. "I thought, again, they just took it to another gear. They've got the type of team that can do that.

"When they came out after that timeout, they buckled down a little bit more on the defensive end and they got it going a little bit more on the offensive end. You've got to give them a lot of credit. They just wanted to put the game away at that point in time and they just got more aggressive on both ends of the floor."

James had nine of his 24 points in the third quarter, then decided to offer Harris some support afterward. Harris has said that James was his favorite player growing up.

"I've known Manny since he was in high school," James said. "I've known him through a mutual friend all the way through college at Michigan. I think he's a very talented young player.

"I just told him no matter what's going on with the team -- I know they're struggling -- he has to continue to play well, he has continue to be aggressive and have confidence and don't let any distractions on or off the court stop him from trying to be a really good player in this league.

"I've seen him get his opportunity with the injuries they've had and he's played exceptionally well for a team that has struggled."

The string of injuries continued, too. Daniel Gibson was unable to play because of a sore left quad. He suffered the injury in New Jersey and aggravated it Sunday at Orlando. It seems unlikely he'll play Wednesday against visiting Indiana.

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